Henri Frederic Amiel Quotes

It is not what he had, or even what he does which expresses the worth of a man, but what he is.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Which, Even, Does, Expresses

Clever people will recognize and tolerate nothing but cleverness.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Clever, Will, Cleverness, Clever People

Pure truth cannot be assimilated by the crowd; it must be communicated by contagion.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Communication, Contagion, Assimilated

Tell me what you feel in your room when the full moon is shining in upon you and your lamp is dying out, and I will tell you how old you are, and I shall know if you are happy.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Happiness, Will, Old, Shining

Life is short and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are travelling the dark journey with us. Oh be swift to love, make haste to be kind.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Love, Life, Life Is Short, Hearts

To know how to suggest is the great art of teaching. To attain it we must be able to guess what will interest; we must learn to read the childish soul as we might a piece of music. Then, by simply changing the key, we keep up the attraction and vary the song.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Soul, Vary, Childish, Attraction

Women wish to be loved without a why or a wherefore; not because they are pretty, or good, or well-bred, or graceful, or intelligent, but because they are themselves.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Women, Why, Pretty, Wherefore

In every loving woman there is a priestess of the past - a pious guardian of some affection, of which the object has disappeared.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Loving, Some, Which, Pious

Materialism coarsens and petrifies everything, making everything vulgar, and every truth false.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Truth, Making, Vulgar, Materialism

There is no respect for others without humility in one's self.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Respect, Humility, Self, No Respect

Tears are the symbol of the inability of the soul to restrain its emotion and retain its self command.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Tears, Symbol, Inability, Restrain

To live we must conquer incessantly, we must have the courage to be happy.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Happy, Be Happy, Conquer, Incessantly

Without passion man is a mere latent force and possibility, like the flint which awaits the shock of the iron before it can give forth its spark.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Give, Like, Which, Spark

Let us be true: this is the highest maxim of art and of life, the secret of eloquence and of virtue, and of all moral authority.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Art, Be True, Maxim, Moral Authority

Music is harmony, harmony is perfection, perfection is our dream, and our dream is heaven.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Music, Harmony, Dream, Perfection

Common sense is calculation applied to life.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Common, Calculation, Applied, Common Sense

Common sense is the measure of the possible; it is composed of experience and prevision; it is calculation applied to life.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Measure, Common, Calculation, Common Sense

He who asks of life nothing but the improvement of his own nature... is less liable than anyone else to miss and waste life.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Nature, Nothing, Waste, Liable

Our systems, perhaps, are nothing more than an unconscious apology for our faults, a gigantic scaffolding whose object is to hide from us our favorite sin.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Unconscious, Scaffolding, Apology

Analysis kills spontaneity. The grain once ground into flour springs and germinates no more.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Flour, Once, Springs, Grain

The test of every religious, political, or educational system is the man that it forms.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Test, Religious, Educational, Forms

Our duty is to be useful, not according to our desires but according to our powers.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Duty, Desires, According, Powers

In health there is freedom. Health is the first of all liberties.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Health, Freedom, Liberties, First Of All

Cleverness is serviceable for everything, sufficient for nothing.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Cleverness, Sufficient, Serviceable

Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude. Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness. Thankfulness may consist merely of words. Gratitude is shown in acts.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Thankful, Completion, Consist

Woman is the salvation or the destruction of the family. She carries its destiny in the folds of her mantle.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Woman, Destiny, She, Mantle

If nationality is consent, the state is compulsion.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Consent, Compulsion, State, Nationality

Order is power.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Power, Order

Sacrifice still exists everywhere, and everywhere the elect of each generation suffers for the salvation of the rest.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Rest, Generation, Still, Elect

Sacrifice, which is the passion of great souls, has never been the law of societies.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Never, Been, Which, Societies

Self-interest is but the survival of the animal in us. Humanity only begins for man with self-surrender.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Survival, Only, Begins, Self-Interest

Work while you have the light. You are responsible for the talent that has been entrusted to you.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Work, Light, Been, Entrusted

For purposes of action nothing is more useful than narrowness of thought combined with energy of will.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Thought, Will, More, Purposes

The fire which enlightens is the same fire which consumes.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Fire, Same, Which, Enlightens

Order is a great person's need and their true well being.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

True, Person, Need, Well Being

To do easily what is difficult for others is the mark of talent. To do what is impossible for talent is the mark of genius.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Talent, Impossible, Genius, Mark

I'm not interested in age. People who tell me their age are silly. You're as old as you feel.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Age, Silly, Old, Not Interested

Every life is a profession of faith, and exercises an inevitable and silent influence.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Inevitable, Profession, Exercises

Conquering any difficulty always gives one a secret joy, for it means pushing back a boundary-line and adding to one's liberty.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Back, Always, Means, Adding

To shun one's cross is to make it heavier.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Cross, Heavier, Make, Shun

An error is the more dangerous in proportion to the degree of truth which it contains.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Truth, Which, Contains, Error

Thought is a kind of opium; it can intoxicate us, while still broad awake; it can make transparent the mountains and everything that exists.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Mountains, Thought, Still, Awake

Truth is not only violated by falsehood; it may be equally outraged by silence.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Truth, May, Violated, Falsehood

Action and faith enslave thought, both of them in order not be troubled or inconvenienced by reflection, criticism, and doubt.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Reflection, Thought, Action, Troubled

Destiny has two ways of crushing us - by refusing our wishes and by fulfilling them.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Future, Destiny, Crushing, Fulfilling

It is by teaching that we teach ourselves, by relating that we observe, by affirming that we examine, by showing that we look, by writing that we think, by pumping that we draw water into the well.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Teacher, Think, Relating, Affirming

Blessed be childhood, which brings down something of heaven into the midst of our rough earthliness.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Rough, Which, Brings, Heaven

The best path through life is the highway.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Life, Path, Through, Highway

Learn to... be what you are, and learn to resign with a good grace all that you are not.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Good, Learn, Resign, Grace

Charm is the quality in others, that makes us more satisfied with ourselves.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Charm, Satisfied, More, Quality

True humility is contentment.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Peace, Humility, True, Contentment

The man who has no inner-life is a slave to his surroundings.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Life, Man, His, Slave

Everything you need for better future and success has already been written. And guess what? All you have to do is go to the library.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Need, Better Future, Been, Written

Action is coarsened thought; thought becomes concrete, obscure, and unconscious.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Unconscious, Concrete, Action

Sympathy is the first condition of criticism.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Sympathy, Condition, First, Criticism

We are never more discontented with others than when we are discontented with ourselves.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Never, More, Than, Discontented

Any landscape is a condition of the spirit.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Spirit, Condition, Any, Landscape

Man becomes man only by his intelligence, but he is man only by his heart.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Father's Day, Only, His, Heart

The man who insists upon seeing with perfect clearness before he decides, never decides. Accept life, and you must accept regret.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Regret, Perfect, Before, Accept

The only substance properly so called is the soul.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Soul, Only, Properly, Substance

Uncertainty is the refuge of hope.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Hope, Uncertainty, Refuge

To marry unequally is to suffer equally.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Relationship, Suffer, Marry

Doing easily what others find difficult is talent; doing what is impossible for talent is genius.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Genius, Doing, Find, Easily

So long as a person is capable of self-renewal they are a living being.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Living, Person, Being, Capable

Society lives by faith, and develops by science.

- Henri Frederic Amiel

Science, Society, Lives, Develops

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Powerful Henri Frederic Amiel for Daily Growth